2020 application thread

[smithsonian]

Ugh, the radio silence at some schools is killing me today. I could really use some good news. 

[jocelynbymarcjacobs]

2 minutes ago, smithsonian said:

Ugh, the radio silence at some schools is killing me today. I could really use some good news. 

Same here... which schools are you waiting on?

[smithsonian]

1 minute ago, jocelynbymarcjacobs said:

Same here... which schools are you waiting on?

Emory. University of Georgia. How about you, if you don't mind saying? 

Anyone in the know - did Emory do interviews? TIA. 

[historyofsloths]

15 minutes ago, smithsonian said:

Emory. University of Georgia. How about you, if you don't mind saying? 

Anyone in the know - did Emory do interviews? TIA. 

Emory did not do interviews and I believe does not do interviews, much like UofMichigan and other programs.

[jocelynbymarcjacobs]

20 minutes ago, smithsonian said:

Emory. University of Georgia. How about you, if you don't mind saying? 

Anyone in the know - did Emory do interviews? TIA. 

NYU, University of Washington, Boston College, and CU Boulder. I’m feeling like next week will be a big decision week. 

[OmniscienceQuest]

9 minutes ago, jocelynbymarcjacobs said:

I’m feeling like next week will be a big decision week. 

I agree -- I've heard bad news from 3 of the 8 PhD programs I applied to and I anticipate all 5 of the other responses by Friday next week, based on reported results from past years. I also expect it will be like this week, where it was dead silent until the very end of the week. But my friends keep reminding me I don't know the future, so who knows. I hope you get good news next week.

[AP]

16 minutes ago, historyofsloths said:

Emory did not do interviews and I believe does not do interviews, much like UofMichigan and other programs.

Emory typically does interviews but it might depend by caucus. 

[historyofsloths]

3 minutes ago, AP said:

Emory typically does interviews but it might depend by caucus. 

I stand corrected!

Edited February 14, 2020 by historyofsloths

[historyofamanda]

Hi everyone-wishing the very best of luck to you all! Currently waiting to hear back from Carnegie Mellon, the University of Pittsburgh, and the University of Washington. No updates from any of them so far, the wait has definitely been agonizing.

[histori041512]

1 hour ago, Manana said:

UMich is my top choice and I haven't received anything yet. This is truly nerve wracking.

I am not sure if all acceptances went out today. I got a Merit Fellowship so I am not sure if they sent that out earlier than others.

[whatkilledthedinosaurs]

Well, I got rejected from my dream program today (Joint PhD in Women's Studies and History at UMichigan). I thought I had a great application. I've worked with people in the joint PhD program before and thought maybe I had a good chance? I know it's competitive but sigh. I've officially been rejected from 6 out of the 8 schools I've applied to. Not feeling great.

[historyofsloths]

9 minutes ago, whatkilledthedinosaurs said:

Well, I got rejected from my dream program today (Joint PhD in Women's Studies and History at UMichigan). I thought I had a great application. I've worked with people in the joint PhD program before and thought maybe I had a good chance? I know it's competitive but sigh. I've officially been rejected from 6 out of the 8 schools I've applied to. Not feeling great.

I’m sorry, that really sucks. Also, them not BCCing the rejection email is not a good look. 

[whatkilledthedinosaurs]

3 minutes ago, historyofsloths said:

I’m sorry, that really sucks. Also, them not BCCing the rejection email is not a good look. 

Yeah, it was super messy lol but even then can you not just send out individual emails? Take the time at least, around 20-24 people apply to this program each year and only one is accepted ? Even if it had been BCC'd it would've rubbed me the wrong way. Take your time rejecting me please!

[cjladygoodman]

Down and up day, but at least it came in to the inbox in that order! Rejected from Michigan, and accepted at Brandeis!

[Go Weast Young Man]

6 minutes ago, cjladygoodman said:

Down and up day, but at least it came in to the inbox in that order! Rejected from Michigan, and accepted at Brandeis!

Feel free to message me if you have any questions about the program at Brandeis! 

[cjladygoodman]

5 minutes ago, Go Weast Young Man said:

Feel free to message me if you have any questions about the program at Brandeis! 

Awesome! Thank you!

[time_consume_me]

7 hours ago, histori041512 said:

Truly shocked I got into Michigan. I had totally lost all hope after my last rejection from Indiana Bloomington. Was late to work from getting sidetracked celebrating. 

Accepted for comparative genocide studies, US Native Americans and German Jews in contemporary society. 

What better school for that subject?!? Congrats! 

 

Edit: I see another Princeton waitlist on the results list ... The plot thickens, lol

Edited February 15, 2020 by hojoojoh
Don't want to double post

[Shijia]

Just wondering, is there anyone applying for joint PhD History and Middle Eastern Studies at NYU? Have you heard anything? The waiting is killing.... ?

[AP]

2 hours ago, whatkilledthedinosaurs said:

Yeah, it was super messy lol but even then can you not just send out individual emails? Take the time at least, around 20-24 people apply to this program each year and only one is accepted ? Even if it had been BCC'd it would've rubbed me the wrong way. Take your time rejecting me please!

1) Offers and rejections are not made by programs, they are made by the schools. So, it's not 20-24 people they have to deal with. Further, when you apply to big/small grants and jobs, same thing will happen. Blimey, I still get rejected by jobs I applied in 2018. 

2) The reason for rejections being handled by "outsiders" to the program is twofold (or even threefold). First, it is fair to all applicants to all programs in the school. Second, if someone, a person (as opposed to "the system") sends you the rejection, it opens a conversation which faculty can't and shouldn't have. The system, as distasteful and horrible as it sounds, it is more just. This happens too when you apply for jobs, you do it directly with HR in many cases and they are the ones that tell you you've been rejected (unless you've made it to the campus visit). 

3) Programs are often understaffed to handle even yet another huge responsibility. 

 

[Strategos]

I just spoke to one of my POIs at NYU, and he told me that they're planning to take in a cohort of nine new students this year for the history department (down from their usual ten because they had a higher yield than expected last year). Apparently, four offers have already been sent to modern Europeanists, including me, and there may still be a fifth going out sometime soon. Unfortunately, I don't know anything about the other fields, but I hope that people find this information useful!

[Madrugada]

2 minutes ago, Strategos said:

I just spoke to one of my POIs at NYU, and he told me that they're planning to take in a cohort of nine new students this year for the history department (down from their usual ten because they had a higher yield than expected last year). Apparently, four offers have already been sent to modern Europeanists, including me, and there may still be a fifth going out sometime soon. Unfortunately, I don't know anything about the other fields, but I hope that people find this information useful!

Thanks for sharing that, congrats on NYU.

[BalkanItinerant]

8 hours ago, jocelynbymarcjacobs said:

NYU, University of Washington, Boston College, and CU Boulder. I’m feeling like next week will be a big decision week. 

Waiting on NYU still as well. So far I'm 3 rejections for my five apps. Hope to hell either NYU or UPenn pull through.

[jocelynbymarcjacobs]

58 minutes ago, BalkanItinerant said:

Waiting on NYU still as well. So far I'm 3 rejections for my five apps. Hope to hell either NYU or UPenn pull through.

Good luck!!! I’m at 1 rejection, still waiting on 4 schools. What field are you in?

[whatkilledthedinosaurs]

6 hours ago, AP said:

1) Offers and rejections are not made by programs, they are made by the schools. So, it's not 20-24 people they have to deal with. Further, when you apply to big/small grants and jobs, same thing will happen. Blimey, I still get rejected by jobs I applied in 2018. 

2) The reason for rejections being handled by "outsiders" to the program is twofold (or even threefold). First, it is fair to all applicants to all programs in the school. Second, if someone, a person (as opposed to "the system") sends you the rejection, it opens a conversation which faculty can't and shouldn't have. The system, as distasteful and horrible as it sounds, it is more just. This happens too when you apply for jobs, you do it directly with HR in many cases and they are the ones that tell you you've been rejected (unless you've made it to the campus visit). 

3) Programs are often understaffed to handle even yet another huge responsibility. 

 

Not really sure what you meant by this - I know all of this and never objected to the rejection being handled by an "outsider" because it wasn't; it came from the program with the name of the director. It just bothered me that we didn't have our privacy respected in a very basic way. The "take your time rejecting me" line was mostly tongue in cheek; I obviously know programs are understaffed. This program gets about 20-24 applicants a year and one or two people get in; I assumed that with a smaller pool/program, we wouldn't all have gotten the same rejection without being BCC'd. Ultimately it's not even that big of a deal, I'm just venting on a grad school forum.

[BalkanItinerant]

4 hours ago, jocelynbymarcjacobs said:

Good luck!!! I’m at 1 rejection, still waiting on 4 schools. What field are you in?

late 19th century- early 20th American political and immigration history with a transatlantic focus